So im trying DS 4.5 instead of studio 3 -please help not kill myself

ok, so i tried ds 4 when it came out and I really hated it. Interface, layout, all of it drove me nuts. many of you have tried to convince me to get with the times and let go of ds 3 so im trying it out more seriously today.

Please help me not leap out the window.

First, I migrated my content manager database of thousands of items and who can find it? The content library on the right has a hodge podge mish mash of what I own, but my clean, carefully managed categories of totally useful organziation are nowhere to be found. Also, i see on the left side of my screen a "smart content" tab which seems to sort of duplicate the function of the content library tab on the right, but everything is in no logical order and half of it seems empty with a ! in place of an icon as though that would be somehow helpful. lol

help me obi wan kenobis. I want to like this. Im not seeing it, but you can help me like it... please.

Post edited by Ademnus on April 2013

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Once you finally get everything migrated successfully, you should find your carefully categorized content under the Categories category. (There are additional top-level categories called "DAZ Studio Formats", "Poser Formats", "Other Import Formats", and "Products", which are optional different ways of viewing your content, but those are probably not what you are trying to find right at the moment.)

It's been a while since I did a migration from DS3 to DS4, so I don't recall all the steps I took; the experts may have better solutions for you, but they may need additional details.
One thing to check is to verify that all the mapped runtime or native content folders you had in DS3 are also mapped in DS4. In the "Content Library" pane, click on the menu icon in the upper corner and select "Content Directory Manager" from the menu. Expand the "DAZ Studio Formats" and "Poser Formats" entries, and make sure all your runtimes and folders are mapped the way you expect. (let us know if you have questions here.)

ok, so with friendly help, I found my stuff from the content manager. YAY.

However...

I blew some serious cash and went ahead and bought michael 5, m4/v4 shapes, and bundles and clothes, hair etc. YAY.

I used the daz installer and it dloaded and installed them all. YAY

I ran ds 4.5 and... they werent there. Well some of it was. most of it wasnt. So I tried some of what was there and it said it was missing this or that file and just put a cube on my genesis figure. ><</p>

So I manually downloaded all 5 pages of stuff. I installed a few. They work now, although now there's 2 of everything!

The default install location for Install Manager isn't the same as the one for DS -- either change the install location in Install Manager or add that location in DS. Before doing so, go to Content Library > options menu > Content DB Maintenance, check the boxes for "Remove Unmapped Base Paths and Orphans" and "Remove Orphan References" and click OK to remove the duplicates.

In Install Manager, click the Settings button (the cog in the upper right corner), go to the Installation tab, and click the plus sign in the lower left to add the path. It will warn you that there are already items in that location, but if there's only the stuff you just installed there there's no problem. When you're on the Ready to Install tab if you check the "Show Details" box it shows what path you're currently installing to, and you can change it if necessary.

To add the path in DAZ Studio, on the Content Library tab right-click on the "DAZ Studio Formats" and choose "Add Content Folder", then do the same for "Poser Formats" -- use the same path both times, the path ending at "My DAZ 3D Library".

If you use the first option, after you're done installing things with Install Manager on top of the ones you installed with the individual installers, go back to the Settings Installation tab, right-click on the install folder, and choose "Fix Installed File Registry". Since you installed on top of existing files, Install Manager thinks the file was installed twice, and won't remove it if you uninstall or update the item with Install Manager. This fixes the Install Manager's count so that it will know how many times each file is installed.

In Install Manager, click the Settings button (the cog in the upper right corner), go to the Installation tab, and click the plus sign in the lower left to add the path. It will warn you that there are already items in that location, but if there's only the stuff you just installed there there's no problem. When you're on the Ready to Install tab if you check the "Show Details" box it shows what path you're currently installing to, and you can change it if necessary.

To add the path in DAZ Studio, on the Content Library tab right-click on the "DAZ Studio Formats" and choose "Add Content Folder", then do the same for "Poser Formats" -- use the same path both times, the path ending at "My DAZ 3D Library".

If you use the first option, after you're done installing things with Install Manager on top of the ones you installed with the individual installers, go back to the Settings Installation tab, right-click on the install folder, and choose "Fix Installed File Registry". Since you installed on top of existing files, Install Manager thinks the file was installed twice, and won't remove it if you uninstall or update the item with Install Manager. This fixes the Install Manager's count so that it will know how many times each file is installed.

Ok, so to be clear - I need to choose just 1 option, right? I either change where install manager installs things or I tell daz studio 4.5 where the install manager already installs them?

I've literally spent hours trying to make this work and I find myself staring glumly at a non-compliant screen wondering what I did to deserve this ><</p>

I did as you said, and there are still 2 of most things.

Also, I set up install manager to go to the right place, it actually only gave me one choice so that was simple, and MOST of what i installed showed up. Except the m4/v4 shapes for genesis. I can't fathom where they'd be hiding.

I have to say, doing a quick and dirty test render amazed me, mostly with how zippily fast it renders, even with uber lighting set up. ZBlazing fast! I mostly like the results though not as overwhelmed as I want to be. But trying to just get things organized, making sense, not duplicating files, and finding installed files is driving me berserk ><</p>

Some important things to know before you work yourself into a frenzy. Firstly, the Smart Content tab.

Smart Content is designed to speed up your workflow by only displaying the items which are compatible with a selected object. With nothing selected, the list should be populated with the basics like props, environments and figures. Add Victoria 5 to the scene and select it to get a list of skins, clothes and accessories for her. Add a top for her and select it to get a list of different material options for that outfit, and so on.

I created a guide a while back to illustrate how you can add your own metadata to make items easier to find later on. Feel free to check it out if you're interested.

Secondly, the Content Library will retain the folder system you had previously as long as Daz knows where to find the runtime directory. This means that your Daz 3 items should be in the same location they were in unless you've moved them manually. However this also means that if you add items which were already in your library to Daz Studio you'll get duplicates which you might prefer to avoid.

If you do find you have duplicates, then you might also have duplicate metadata for it. Again, I'll direct you to my tutorial above for the basics, but if you remove all metadata for one of the sets (right-click them in the Smart Content to 'Browse in Content Library' to make finding them easier), ensuring to hit the checkbox at the bottom which says "Purge unlisted" and then delete the duplicate files (select all -> delete assets) you can fix any duplicate issues.

If you have DIM set to DEFAULT it will install content for DS4.5 DS4.0 Poser and others. Use the Cog to set your Installs to just the Version your using. The nice thing with DIM is I set the My DAZ 3D Library folder to just DS4.5 installs and my DS3 Content Folder to Just DS3 content and DIM installs the proper content into the proper folders without me needing to do a thing.

to be honest, its the smart content tab that has the duplicates and I see no way to fix that. It also isnt finding all of my newly installed content until I manually install it -it seems to ignore the daz install tool.

I appreciate your words, though. im really trying not to get into a lather but its very discouraging. Especially as a michael user, rather than a victoria user. Im seeing so very little for michael and most of it very low quality that im wondering if this is going to be worth all the trouble in the end. But im keeping an open mind and continuing for a few more days.

If I'm following the thread properly you have/had a DS3 content folder when you started? Yes/No?
And then you Installed content to the Default DS4.5 My Library folder in My Documents. Yes?No?
Then you started using the DIM (Daz Install Manager) that created the My DAZ 3D Library folder in Public/Documents. Yes/No?
After not seeing the content Appear you Hand installed some content, to which folder I never caught.

Its alright guys. I thank you for all the help and advice but its just not working out. I spent a very long day and most of the night just trying to get items to install. Sometimes they did. Sometimes they didn't. Sometimes they did and then, mysteriously, uninstalled and had to be reinstalled. I ran into every conceivable problem along the way, just trying to set figures up. Key shaping tools are not included in the genesis shaping bundle. I found the sea of tabs frustrating as there were tabs on the left, tabs on the right, tabs up above and swapping between them reset tools that I had undocked because I guess some people want seperate docking settings for each tab, though I'll never fathom why. When I finally got some of the new clothes I bought to show up and applied them, my rather robust system became lagged and, after posing the figure meticulously, the clothing decided to simply fall apart at the shoulders. That was really the last straw.

For me, ds3 is streamlined and swift, I can plop out figures, clothes, hair, textures in seconds and start spending my real time posing as I desire -with no problems. To me, simpler is always better. Its why I shied away from poser in favor of daz in the first place. Like photoshop, I appreciated the simple, no frills design. I'm sad to see it become so convoluted in ds 4.5. I definitely see the benefits of the genesis system and I really like the zippy fast rendering capabilities of ds4.5 but, as it stands, its a black hole of time that could be spent on my art but is instead spent on just trying to make things work.

I have requested a refund for the genesis materials and will use ds 4.5 as a rendering engine, maybe. But for now, I just won't be going back to use it to compose and pose, and I will not be using Genesis. I'm saddened to feel my connection to daz slimming as I accrue the last of the m4 items and scenery that I haven't gotten to yet, knowing I won't be buying much of anything new. Maybe ds5 and genesis 2.0 will wow me. Until then, I will stick with ds 3x and m/v 4 -and remain galadriel.

LOL, I'm still using 2.3. I downloaded 4.whatever, took a look at it read the forums, looked at it again and thought, "no way". Between learning Hexagon and Daz I'm progressing at my own pace which I suppose is incredibly slow. Still enjoying the ride tho.